Police: Royal Oak teen upset about cat pulled knife on father

A Royal Oak teen is charged with felony assault after police say he tried to stab his father with a kitchen knife in an argument over the family’s cat, then ran outside and threatened other people on the street.

Ryan Yarnevich, 18, was arraigned Tuesday before Royal Oak 44th District Magistrate Donald Chisholm on two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and domestic violence.

“The suspect was upset because the cat had been locked up in the laundry room,” said Royal Oak police Lt. Dave Clemens.

According to the suspect’s family he has some mental problems, Clemens added.

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Police said the assaults happened shortly after 11 p.m. Sunday in the area of 13 Mile and Campbell roads.

The teen argued with his father and grabbed a kitchen knife inside the family’s house in the 1100 block of Woodlawn and tried to stab him, police said.

The father and a female friend ran to a basement bedroom and barricaded the door.

The suspect tried to force his way into the bedroom before he gave up and ran from the house, still holding the knife, police said.

In the 1200 block of Midland, one block away, Yarnevich chased a woman who was just leaving a man’s house, police said.

The woman told police she had just gotten in her car when she saw the suspect running at her with the knife in his hand and yelling.

As she drove off, the suspect chased her car down the street. The man whose house she had been visiting came out on the porch to see what was happening and confronted the suspect, police said.

“The (suspect) approached the man and threatened him with the knife,” Clemens said.

The man went back into his house, locked the door and called 911.

Police said they were responding to a 911 call from the suspect’s house about the time he threatened the man and woman a block away.

Officer found the suspect walking on the sidewalk on Midland just west of Campbell. The suspect dropped the knife and was arrested without any trouble after police approached him, Clemens said.

Each assault charge against Yarnevich is punishable by up to four years in prison. The domestic violence charge is a misdemeanor.

The suspect is scheduled for a pre-exam conference in Royal Oak District Court at 9 a.m. Friday.